World News

Trump administration targets job protections of 50,000 federal employees

It is the biggest change to the rules governing the civil service in more than a century and targets employees that the administration sees as undermining the president's priorities

ECB keeps rates unchanged, plays down impact of dollar weakness on policy

Asked about the currency, Lagarde said the ECB was keeping a close eye on markets but ultimately concluded that no big change has taken place in recent months

Once the hottest bet on Wall Street, private credit has started to crack

Apollo Global Management and BlackRock, two other large players, have also rattled investors with write-downs on large loans to several troubled e-com- merce companies.

HSBC set to push out underperformers as some bankers face zero bonuses

Such a move is aligned with the vision of Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery, who wants to bring the bank more in line with pay practices at American peers

Reliance buys 2 mn barrels of Venezuelan crude after nearly a year: Report

Trading houses Vitol and Trafigura were granted US licenses to market and sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil following the US military operation last month to capture President Nicolas Maduro

Nike faces probe over alleged discrimination against white workers

Nike said it has "shared thousands of pages of information and detailed written responses to the EEOC's inquiry" and is "in the process of providing additional information"

US jobless claims jump by 22,000 to 231,000 last week: Labour Dept

Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as representative of US layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market

US, Russia near deal to extend new START nuclear arms treaty: Report

The New START treaty, which set limits on each side's missiles, launchers and strategic warheads, is the last in a series of nuclear agreements dating back more than half a century to the Cold War

Oil slides over 2% as easing supply fears follow planned US-Iran talks

Brent crude futures were ​down $1.73, or 2.5 per cent , at $67.73 per barrel at 1402 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.67, or 2.5 per cent , at $63.47

India-US trade deal in final stages, to open new phase in ties: Jaishankar

Jaishankar, in a social media post, described his visit to the US as "productive" and "positive"

US, Russia agree to restart military dialogue after Ukraine negotiations

High level military communication was suspended in 2021, just before Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine

Kremlin says Russia will uphold nuclear stability after New START expires

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the New START treaty, which set limits on each side's missiles, launchers and strategic warheads, would lapse at the end of Thursday

UK PM Keir Starmer apologises to Epstein victims amid Mandelson row

Starmer said he regretted believing what he described as "lies" conveyed by Mandelson at the time of the appointment and acknowledged the public manner in which the matter unfolded

Russia, Ukraine hold second day of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi

Last year saw a 31 per cent increase in Ukrainian civilian casualties compared with 2024, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday

Shashi Tharoor's son Ishaan among staff hit by Washington Post layoffs

The US daily newspaper, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eliminated around one-third of its staff, shutting down its sports section and cutting back several foreign bureaus and books coverage

Strong global sales lift Sony Q3 profit 11%, boosts annual outlook

Sony, which makes PlayStation game consoles, "Spider-Man" movies, Walkman players and Bravia TVs, raised its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2026 to $7.2 billion

Why Google is ramping up AI investment to as much as $185 billion

Strong profits and cash flow are driving Google's plan to double AI spending to $185 bn; the money will go into AI models, cloud infrastructure and data centres as demand continues to rise

Pak must create 30 mn jobs in 10 yrs to avoid instability: World Bank chief

Banga said Pakistan's population dynamics mean employment creation will remain a binding constraint on growth over the long term, rather than a secondary policy goal

Our ties with US are 'rock solid': Taiwan president after Trump-Xi call

The comments came after Xi, in his first call with Trump since November, warned the US president to be "prudent" about supplying arms to the self-ruled island

Why HP, Dell and others PC makers are exploring Chinese memory chips

HP has started testing memory chips from China's CXMT, while Dell is also evaluating its products, as both PC makers worry that DRAM prices may remain high through 2026